A word from Ariele, the 'Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy' costume creator:

The adventure started when my team for a local board game charity event decided to name ourselves "Gamers of the Galaxy". This event also happened to be a week before Halloween, so it would work for both events. Also, being a hobby cosplayer, I know I will get more use out of it.

I sketched out what I thought the pattern would look like and estimated how much material I would need for each part before venturing to the fabric store. I picked up some upholstery vinyl, netting, elastic, snaps, hooks & eyes, spandex, and lots of black thread. I couldn't find a pattern close enough so I custom made my own using the duct tape dummy I made a few months back.

I did find a pattern for leggings, which I attempted to use, but it didn't seem to fit properly. I ended up just tracing around some store bought leggings that I knew fit. The pattern was much simpler and fit perfectly.

The top is mostly made of vinyl with netting on the sides and front. I used skinny black elastic for the visible criss-crossing, which also helps hold it together. It's mostly held together with snaps. Lots and lots of snaps. Except the neck piece, which uses a hook & eye.

The blue on the top and leggings were hand painted with acrylic paint. I laid extra netting over the area and painted over it to get the scaly pattern on Gamora's outfit. I actually painted the pants while wearing them to make sure the paint didn't crack when stretched. The silver on the neck was also painted with acrylic.

The gloves were probably the biggest pain in the butt because each vinyl strip had to follow the curve of my arm perfectly or it didn't fit right, but not too tight or I couldn't get them on and off and the thread would rip. I ended up saran wrapping and duct taping my arm to get the right shape and cut a pattern from that. I probably ripped them apart and put them back together 10 times.

The belt is also upholstery vinyl. The silver accents are craft foam covered in Worbla (thermoplastic) and painted with acrylic paint.

The only things I didn't make are the wig, which I ordered online, and the boots, which I had from my X-23 costume.

The final touch on Halloween night was the extensive body painting, which was rather labourious. It took about 2 hours!

All the hard work paid off though. My costume was a huge hit at the party and everyone kept saying how amazing it looked. It may not be perfect, but I am very proud of it.